The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has indicated that it will need the support of security services to halt the devastating effect of illegal mining, also known as galamsey on the cultivation of the crop.
The European Union (EU) has already warned that it may be forced to boycott the purchase of Ghana’s cocoa if deforestation and illegal mining of cocoa farms are not stopped.
Speaking to Joy Business, Head of Public Affairs at COCOBOD, Fiifi Boafo said the fight requires the full support from state agencies and the security forces.
He stated for example that, the operations of illegal miners take diverse forms that can only be stopped by security agencies trained to combat such crimes.
“The illegal miners are still in the business. Unfortunately, and it’s affecting us, it is affecting production, it’s affecting farm lands and it’s affecting lands that are linked to these cocoa farms,” he said.
Mr. Boafo also lamented that the situation has been compounded by fact that some cocoa farmers have been deceived to sell their farms to illegal miners who promise instant rewards.He pointed out that such illegal miners must be arrested for destroying farms and forest reserves.
According to him, COCOBOD has intensified education to farmers not to release their farmlands for illegal mining works since it is against the law.
“That is also another major challenge that COCOBOD is fighting to resolve. We have engaged farms of farmers that have been converted to illegal mine sites. It has not solve the problem. We are still exploring other means of addressing the issue but it remains the major challenges to us and then we need everyone’s support and assistance and collaboration to get things done, “he said.
Mr. Boafo stressed that there must a collaborated effort to protect cocoa farms since it is a major source of foreign earnings for Ghana for decades.
“The security agencies must come in, the media, we expect to continue the course to ensure we stop this illegal acts because of its effects on our country so yes the collaboration is expected,” he appealed.
As Northern part of the country starts witnessing some rainfall, the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) has warned farmers in the area not to start farming now because of climate change.
Northern part of the country has only one major rainfall for farmers which normally begins around May and June every year unlike the southern sector with minor and major rainfall.
However, the Northern region and some parts of other regions in the North have been experiencing series of rainfall in the month of March this year due to climatic change which is likely to motivate some farmers to start farming.
But, GMet has educated that the rains will be accompanied by heavy winds, and after that period, it is likely dry season will take over which will make cultivation fruitless.
The acting Director-General of GMet, Eric Asuman, admonished farmers to wait for their seasonal rainfall to cultivate and harvest.
Mr Asuman assured the farmers of constant communication to alert them when the cultivation time is due.
Due to the climate changes, he advised farmers to be wary of bush burning, which is the major cause of fire disasters.
Ghana Cocoa Board’s (COCOBOD) Anti-smuggling Task Force in collaboration with the security agencies, has within two weeks, retrieved over 1,500 bags of cocoa, en route to being smuggled to neighbouring countries.
According to the Director of Special Services at COCOBOD, Mr. Charles Amenyaglo, the win scored against smugglers between the first two weeks of March was through a system instituted by COCOBOD, which comes with incentives for collaborators.
He disclosed that the beans originated from the Western North and Volta regions while arrests were made in the Greater Accra, Volta and Western North regions during the transit of the cocoa beans.
In the Greater Accra region, the Mamprobi Police Unit on March 6, following a tip-off intercepted 508 bags of standard cocoa beans and 72 bags of cocoa waste beans which were transported from Sefwi Bekwai in a Howo Truck with registration number GS 854-21.
The driver, Abdul Rahman Amadu alleged that he was contracted at a lorry station to load the cocoa beans to Accra.
He was in the process of re-bagging the beans from jute sacks into polythene sacks in order to evade security checks when he was arrested at a school in Mamprobi, which served as the offloading point.
Rahman and two others believed to be labourers have been granted bail with one surety each and are to reappear before Circuit Court 6 in Accra on April 13.
According to Mr Charles Amenyaglo, the cocoa beans were released to COCOBOD the next day to prevent deterioration.
“The beans were not thoroughly dried before they were transported and some were drenched in rainwater through transit. We had to immediately evacuate them to our Take-Over Centre at Tema for drying, reconditioning and rebagging”.
Following this, 511 bags of good cocoa beans, weighed 64kg per bag and 123 bags of waste cocoa beans weighed 50kg per bag were collected.
The Anti-Smuggling Taskforce of COCOBOD also saved about 399 bags of cocoa beans from smugglers who were carting them from Dunkwa-on-Offin and Sefwi Bekwai in the Western North region to the Ivory Coast on March 13.
The trucks with registration numbers, AS 885 – 19 and AS 7457 – 17 have been impounded while the drivers have been granted police enquiry bail pending further investigations.
Meanwhile, a 42-year-old Nigerian national, Isaac Oluwaje who claims ownership of 406 bags of cocoa beans, which was intercepted by a surveillance team of the Special Services Directorate of COCOBOD while being conveyed to Togo through the Volta region, has also been arrested.
Oluwaje claims he bought the cocoa through a business contact at Bonsu Nkwanta in the Western North region for reselling in Togo.
Together with the driver of the track with registration number GX 7632 – 14, Oluwaje had rebagged some of the cocoa beans in poly sacks to avoid detection.
Both are still in Police custody after failing to meet bail conditions following arraignment before the court.Also in the Volta region, a Circuit Court in Denu has remanded two suspected cocoa smugglers into custody.
The suspects, the acclaimed owner of the beans, Ebenezer Tetteh and a truck driver, Francis Awuah were arrested on March 13 following a collaborative operation between COCOBOD and the Aflao Command of the National Investigation Bureau (NIB).
The truck with registration number GX 8579 – 22 moved uninterrupted through the Tema Motorway in the Greater Accra region to the Volta region where they were arrested while crossing Ghana’s major border post to Togo.
Mr. Amenyaglo described it as worrying, that discreet checks showed that the truck drove past officials of other State Security Agencies unchecked until it was stopped by an NIB officer at the border.
He also disclosed that attempts were made to influence the officer with an amount of 25,000 cedis to release the truck of cocoa beans.
He said COCOBOD will continue to work with Security Agencies to thwart the efforts of smugglers and called for the public to volunteer information to help arrest culprits. He assured of anonymity and reward for all informants.
In Ghana, the law requires Cocoa farmers to sell their cocoa beans to certified Purchasing Clerks who act as agents of the Cocoa Marketing Company, a subsidiary of COCOBOD that oversees the purchase of cocoa beans on behalf of the government.
Ghana recorded a shortfall of 300,000 metric tonnes of cocoa in the 2021/2022 crop season, the lowest in 15 years due to a myriad of challenges including over-aged plants and climate change. There are fears that smugglers would worsen the shortfall in the current crop year if not nipped in the bud.
People have been illegally transporting, or smuggling, cocoa beans between Ivory Coast and neighbouring Ghana for many years.
Cocoa smuggling between Ghana and Ivory Coast is quite common, with its direction shifting back and forth depending on the price difference between the two countries.
Ivory Coast raised its cocoa producer price per bag by nine per cent from 825 to 900 CFA franc.
The cedi equivalent of the 900 CFA Franc per bag of cocoa weighing 64-kilogramme gross is GH₵850.
Ghana also raised the producer price of cocoa by 21% to GH₵800 per bag for the 2022/2023 season effective October 7, 2022.
The producer price for 2022/2023 cocoa season by 21%, far higher than the nine per cent in Ivory Coast, the price per bag in Ghana is GH₵800 which is GH₵50 lower than the GH₵850 per bag in Ivory Coast.
The sharp depreciation of the cedi last year is said to be the reason the price per bag is higher in Ivory Coast despite that country raising the farmgate price by just nine per cent compared to the 21% increase by Ghana.
People have been illegally transporting, or smuggling, cocoa beans between Ivory Coast and neighbouring Ghana for many years.
As long as buyers in Ivory Coast will pay more for Ghana’s higher-quality beans, the smuggling is lucrative.
Ghana recorded a shortfall of 300,000 metric tonnes of cocoa in the 2021/2022 crop season, the lowest in 15 years due to a myriad of challenges including over-aged plants and climate change.
There are fears that smugglers will worsen the shortfall in the current crop year if not nipped in the bud.
It is the illicit flow of cocoa from Ghana to her next-door neighbours that constitutes the major loss of economic wealth Ghanaian security officials at the borders who permit smuggling should be dealt with ruthlessly for causing financial loss to the state.
GB Foods, the company behind the popular Gino brand, has announced plans to invest US$70million into tomato production and processing in a major boost for tomato production in the country.
The project involves establishing two industrial farms, each spanning approximately 5000 hectares, accompanied by a factory to process fresh produce. The goal is to help the country achieve self-sufficiency in tomato production and become an export hub for not only the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), but also the entire African continent.
GB Foods’ Corporate Affairs Director, Dr. Teddy Ngu, said the project is expected to create about 5000 direct jobs, in addition to indirect jobs. “We are enthusiastic about making a significant impact in Ghana and beyond.”
He said the company is currently in the process of identifying suitable lands in Accra Plains, Afram Plains and Bui Plains – where soil, hydrology and topographic tests will be conducted to ensure the veracity of the land.
This is being done in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ministry of Trade, and other agencies like Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA).
“Once the tests are completed, the team will move to the next phase, which involves conducting agronomic trials to determine the suitable seed for the full-scale project,” Dr. Ngu added.
The company expects to conduct the seed trials this year and receive the results by March or April of next year.
“If the land is identified this year, the full-scale project will commence in the 2024-25 season. The project will require factories that can process at least 1500 metric tonnes of fresh tomatoes per day, with an estimated combined processing capacity of 3000 metric tonnes of fresh tomatoes per day,” Dr. Ngu stated.
GB Foods Supply Chain Director for Africa, Chattopadhyay Rajib, said the factory boasts a total capacity of approximately 250,000 metric tonnes of tomatoes. Currently, the company produces around 350 tonnes per day and plans to invest US$2million each year in capital expenditure to expand its facility to meet consumer demand.
In all, he added that an estimated US$40million has been invested in the factory so far.
Meanwhile, the company plans to install a solar panel to power the factory to replace 30 percent of its energy requirements. The solar panel project has been approved and will cost approximately US$2million, he added.
This project is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2023.
“In terms of cost savings, it’s not an overnight process; but as we progressively cultivate and reach full capacity, we won’t need to import anymore. This will lead to improved production economics, cheaper rates, and a reduction in cost which we can pass on to consumers,” Mr. Rajib said.
The company already exports its products to economies within ECOWAS, with plans to expand to other African countries, such as Guinea Conakry and Rwanda.
GB Foods aims to leverage the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement and the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme to manufacture and distribute its products across borders.
Dr. Teddy Ngu added that: “We are excited to work with the Ghanaian Government and trade officials to make this a reality. Our vision is for Ghana to become an export hub and a food basket for not only ECOWAS, but also for the entire African continent”.
The backward integration project, a form of vertical integration in which a company expands its role to fulfil tasks formerly completed by businesses up the supply chain, for tomato production in Ghana is a significant step toward achieving food security in the region.
The investment, therefore, demonstrates GB Foods’ commitment to supporting local farmers and promoting sustainable agriculture practices in the country.
The company has a presence in Europe and Africa, operating in approximately 30 European countries and almost 24 African countries.
Globally, its turnover is around €1.5billion, and in Africa, the company has independent businesses in Nigeria, Ghana, Algeria, Western Francophone and Central East Africa.In Ghana, GB Foods’ business is almost worth GH¢1billion, with its tomato mix products being market leaders.
“Our factory and head office, combined, employ almost 1000 people, making us a reasonably large organisation in Ghana. We are ambitious to support Ghana by creating jobs, reducing the demand for scarce foreign exchange, and becoming an export hub for our products. Our brands are well-known across different parts of the country, including Gino rice, Ginomax seasoning tablet, and baked beans,” David Kofi Afflu, General Manager of GB Foods Ghana, said.
About 77 percent of the total registered 76 trawlers operating in the country’s waters have been denied license renewals for failing to meet seaworthiness requirements, Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Minister (MoFAD) Mavis Hawa Koomson has revealed.
In July last year, the ministry issued a directive on specifications of gear to be used by industrial trawlers and vessels for fishing. The directive also includes ensuring safety of vessels operating in Ghana.
The objective of the gear specification is to avoid catching small pelagic fishes and allow juvenile fishes to escape through nets in order to replenish current depleting stocks.
Speaking at the 2023 Ocean Conference in Panama this month, Madam Koomson disclosed that only 25 trawlers out of the registered 76 have received seaworthiness licenses and are currently fishing.
The remaining 51 have been banned from fishing in the country’s waters.This was as a result of implementing these two measures, she said, adding:
“I have personally and recently participated in port inspection of catches of industrial trawlers from sea trips and can confidently say there are no more catching of juvenile and small pelagic species by these trawlers.”
In order to maintain the gains, the minister said plans are being finalised to ensure that all industrial trawlers and tuna vessels licensed in Ghana are using electronic monitoring systems – with a pilot system starting in June this year.Illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing remains one of the greatest threats to marine ecosystems in Ghana due to its ability to undermine national and regional efforts to conserve and manage fish stocks.
The challenge has been contributing to depleting fish stocks and threatening marine biodiversity, livelihoods, exacerbating poverty, and worsening food insecurity.
The country loses over US$200million annually due to IUU fishing, data from the Environment and Natural Resource Research Initiative (ENRRI – EfD Ghana) has shown.
The country, according to the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), loses some US$50million each year to ‘saiko’ – the practice of trans-shipping fish at sea from industrial trawlers to specially adapted canoes, which has currently been brought under control by MoFAD.
Illegal fishing has a devastating cost on the region as the UN estimates that nearly 40 percent of all fish caught in West Africa are done so illegally, resulting in a loss of US$2.3billion annually.
Under Ghana’s laws, illegal fishing activities attract fines of between US$100,000 and US$2million, or a minimum of US$1million for taking on board juvenile fishes, using prohibited fishing gears or fishing in prohibited zones – e.g., the Inshore Exclusive Zone reserved for artisanal fishers. Minimum fines can increase to US$4million in the case of repeated offences.
However, many offenders are able to find alternatives to beat such harsh punishments.
As part of efforts to help increase farm profitability and ensure that the root cause of poverty is addressed for cocoa farmers in Africa, the National Fair Trade Platforms of Ghana, Fair Trade Ghana Network (FTGN) comprising the Ivorian Fair Trade Network (RICE) and the French Fair Trade Platform (Commerce Equitable France) met in Accra, Ghana to discuss and identify the challenges and opportunities in the Cocoa sector.
The Deputy Minister of trade and industry Hon. Okyere Michael Baafi has admonished farmers and value chain players to embrace agric-tech for maximum production and income earning.
As part of the efforts to help increase the resilience and profitability of African farming in the face of climate change, African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA) has had its 23rd African Seed Trade Association annual Congress to discuss regional and international seed issues at Dakar, Senegal.
Africa has had extraordinary development in agricultural productivity and food security over the past few decades. These improvements have been essential in promoting economic growth. Agriculture is a vital sector for many West African countries, contributing significantly to economies.
Cashew cultivation in Ghana started in the 1960s with sporadic plantings in the Central and Greater Accra Regions and later spread to the Bono, Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions.
Cashew is the leading non-traditional export revenue earner in the country. Undoubtedly, the cashew value chain brings a wide range of opportunities from production, through processing to the export of raw nuts.
Cashew grows in eleven out of the sixteen regions of Ghana, although it is mostly found in the Bono and the Northern Regions. About 350,000 farmers are directly engaged in cashew cultivation, generating a chain of ancillary employment for about 450,000 people working in the cashew value chain
The low rates of cashew nut processing in Ghana are driven by a number of factors. These include limited infrastructure for the local processors.
Ghana is among Africa’s major producers of cashew nuts. Ghana currently produces about 85,000 metric tonnes of raw cashew nuts each year, which accounts for about one percent of the world’s total production.
Global cashew demand The fast-increasing production of cashew in the country has been fuelled by the rapid global demand and consumption of cashew nuts, especially in developed economies such as the USA, China and the EU. The driving factor for the rising consumption of cashew nuts is its health and nutritional benefits.
This has created the opportunity for countries producing cashew across the globe to step out of their game to meet the ever-increasing demand. It is estimated that the market for raw cashew nuts will continue to grow at an annual rate of 4.27% from 2020 to 2025 with a projected market value of about US$7 billion.
According to the African Cashew Alliance (ACA), global production of cashew is around 3.8 million tonnes of which Africa accounts for 60%.
Cote d’Ivoire is the leading producer with estimated annual production raised from 460,000 tonnes in 2013 to 1.1 million tonnes in 2021. The shelled cashew kernel production in the same period grew from 30,000 tonnes to 110,000 tonnes.
Per the potential growth of the crop, the government as well as all other interested bodies in the country have been working assiduously to soar Ghana’s cashew production so as to maximise its benefits. Cashew vision?
Local processors challenges Ghana has a few cashew processing plants, with a total annual capacity of 65,000 metric tonnes of raw cashews.
There are a number of challenges that hinder the local processing of cashew nuts in Ghana. Key amongst these is a lack of capital to maintain operations, alongside the inability of local processors to access raw cashew nuts from farmers.
Local processors also face intense competition from foreign processors most notably from Asia who drive up cashew nut prices.
While Asian processors and exporters are able to afford high farmgate prices due to their access to preferential interest rates in their home countries, local processors are unable to compete, leaving them simply unable to afford to purchase raw cashew nuts.
Cashew farmers also demonstrate a preference for selling their nuts to Asian processors and exporters who pay them immediately in cash.
These conditions leave Ghana off the field, thereby missing out on significant opportunities for jobs and revenue generation.
Programmes and interventions The interest in cashew cultivation was rekindled with the introduction of the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) in 1983 when cashew was identified as one of the major non-traditional crops to be developed as part of the Government’s efforts to diversify the country’s export base.
Another is the implementation of ‘Planting for Export and Rural Development’ (PERD). The decentralised programme is aimed at increasing and diversifying Ghana’s tree crop production and exports away from the over-reliance on cocoa.
Targeted crops under PERD include cashew, coconut, rubber, oil palm, coffee and shea. This has seen many District Assemblies, especially those located within the transitional and Savanna zones distributing free cashew seeds and seedlings to farmers for planting. It is expected to accelerate cashew production in the next few years to come.
The Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA), under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture also launched a Five-Year Strategic and Implementation Plan geared towards the development of a competitive and sustainable tree crops industry in Ghana. The Authority has the mandate to regulate and create a conducive environment for the development of tree and industrial crops such as cashew.
Has Ghana learnt from other countries? Governments in key cashew-producing countries across Africa are increasingly rolling out strategies to increase both the production and processing of raw cashew nuts.
For example, in Cote d’Ivoire, an export tax of FCFA 30 per kg of raw cashew nuts has recently been introduced. Revenue from this tax is used to subsidise and support local processors. This has incentivised local processing, making Côte d’Ivoire, the largest cashew processor in Africa, with a capacity of 70,000 metric tonnes annually.
Similarly, Mozambique and Tanzania have adopted a range of measures to protect and incentivise local cashew processors. These include granting local processors preferential access to raw cashew nuts. It also includes imposing export duties on raw cashew nuts.
Meanwhile, since 2009 Kenya has introduced a ban on the export of raw cashew nuts, a strategy which has increased local processing from 30% in 2009 to 80% in 2012.
The Cambodian government has identified cashew as an agro-industrial crop and also one of the 12 priority crops and has been taking various steps to raise its output and competitiveness through economic diversification. The government has enacted the National Policy on Cashew Nuts for 2022-27 which aims to increase production and value-added, giving hope to cashew farmers.
Questions Does the Tree Crops Development Authority have adequate funds to achieve set targets? How is the 5-year Strategy and Implementation Plan doing? Where is the $100 million to achieve the 5-year Strategy and Implementation Plan? The $5 million annual pledge by MoFA, where is it? Are donor partners overwrought? Are we over-relying on donors? Will the 5-year Strategy continue if power changes hands?
One of my beloved writers, Chinua Achebe, the Nigerian novelist seen by millions as the father of African literature, once said “The trouble with Africa is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the African land or climate or water or air or anything else. The African problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership”.
What he meant was that given the current and expected future challenges facing Ghana’s domestic food security, there is an urgent need to critically assess agricultural development policies and donor aid initiatives. There is also an urgent need to examine export led priorities, including in particular, cashew nut sectoral planning.
He believes that to date, national agricultural planning and policy appears to prioritise production of export commodities above local food production, there is a vital need for programmes that increase support for local food crop farmers and domestic food provisioning.
There is also an as-yet-unmet opportunity for Ghana to benefit from investments that enable in-country processing and value-adding as part of an expansion of the cashew sector. Such policy and planning initiatives may ensure Ghana is able to benefit socially and economically from the growing global demand for cashew nuts.
The writer is an Agriculturist, prize-winning journalist, Project Management Professional and Founder, of Motivating the Farmer Africa.
